A 110-year-old jersey worn by the famed Irish-born New Zealand rugby captain Dave Gallaher has fetched a record £180,000 at auction.
The renowned rugby player wore the iconic silver fern embroidered shirt during the country’s first ever tour of Britain in 1905.
It was expected to sell between £20,000-£40,000 at today’s auction at Rogers, Jones & Co in Cardiff, but it exceeded the current world record for a rugby jersey by a “surprising” amount.
The shirt was sold to a British sporting colletor.
A spokesman at Rogers, Jones & Co told The Irish Post: “The jersey is unique so it was hard to pre-empt the price.”
In May, a fan bid £21,500 for a New Zealand rugby jersey worn in the same ‘Originals’ tour that was kept at a rugby club in South Wales.
Following New Zealand’s only defeat in their British, French and Canadian tour against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, Gallaher exchanged his shirt with Welsh captain Gwyn Nicholls.
He then gave it to a van boy named Thomas Mahoney, who worked at Nicholls' laundry business, and his family have kept it ever since.
Ben Rogers Jones of auctioneers Rogers Jones & Co said prior to the auction: “The jersey is undoubtedly the most significant sport-related lot we have ever offered.”
Gallagher was born in Ireland but emigrated to New Zealand with his family at a young age.
He played six Tests for the All Blacks but died aged 43 in 1917 in Belgium while serving in World War One.
